The white stork (gandras) is usually felt to be the national bird of Lithuania. Lithuanians believe that storks bring harmony to the families on whose property they nest; they have also kept up the tradition of telling their children that storks bring babies. Stork Day is celebrated on 25 March with various archaic rituals: gifts for children, attributed to the storks, such as fruits, chocolates, pencils, and dyed eggs, which are hung on tree branches and fences; snakes are caught, killed and buried under the doorstep; straw fires are lit.

Notably, Lithuania is a beneficial and important habitat for these birds: it has the highest known nesting density in the world!